My new variety of lily plant originated as a seedling selected from a group of seedlings at Gresham, Oreg. The seedlings were planted during a breeding program carried on by me since the year 1966. This program had as its primary objective the production of upright hybrid Asiatic lilies in the red color shades and characterized by plant vigor, rapid propagation, high resistance to disease, tolerance of infection by virus, having flowers of superior form and color.
I achieved the desired objective by using as the seed parent Lilium X `Harmony` clone and as the pollen parent Lilium X `Byam's Ruby`.
My new lily plant is single stemmed, tall and stately in form, and has vigorous growth and propagation characteristics. Its stems are dark in color and provide an attractive contrast to the abundant foliage which is deep green in color with a reddish cast.
The plant has a large number of buds, producing from 6 to 12 from a bulb 5 to 7 inches in circumference. The buds are an attractive deep red color when the tepals first divide, and this color intensifies when the tepals begin to unfurl.
The flowers are particularly distinctive. They are characterized by tepals of fine form, unusual breadth, and sharp clean outline. They are lightly spotted, primarily at the base, and are an intense, vibrant, deep red color.
The plant is one of the most vigorous upright Asiatic lilies yet produced. It is a rapid propagator, and has superb disease resistance and a high degree of tolerance of infection by virus. It is an excellent garden lily and satisfactory for use in the cut flower or pot plant trade by forcing precooled bulbs, all as observed at Gresham, Oreg.
My new variety of lily plant has been asexually reproduced by me and under my direction at Gresham, Oreg. Successive generations produced by bulb scale propagation and natural propagation from bulblets have demonstrated that the novel and distinctive characteristics of my new variety are fixed and hold true under asexual propagation from generation to generation.